The Pendleton Panther

Chrysler recently recalled 24,000 cars due to a major break issue. This recall includes Cherokee SUVs, Chrysler Sebring, and Dodge Avenger’s and Nitro’s. There hasn’t been any major accidents yet, which is very lucky. For Chrysler this is a major downfall after going bankrupt. The recall claimed that there is a brake booster rod retaining clip that may be broken or in some cases there might not be any at all. This incident was found by Chrysler factory workers. Soon after Chrysler did some tests and it was proven that the brake booster rod was defective. Chrysler is now working on this recall and making sure that all brake booster rods are doing their jobs. This recall has made a big impact on Chrysler with bankruptcy, luckily no has gotten hurt, but Chrysler is working on it. This recall will soon be fixed.

Dodge, one of America’s first car companies, has done it again! The Dodge Challenger has been remade into a new car. With the same basic ideas but in a modern version.  Auto Trader came out with a study of the Ford Mustang versus the Dodge Challenger.  The Dodge won in most of the comparisons – economy, better gas mileage, comfort and driving. It is an amazing looking car also. Unlike many cars it has a reduced production many each car, one of a kind. There are three basic choices, first SE, then the R/T which has a hemi engine, and then the top of the line SRT-8.  It has a 6.0 liter Hemi engine it.  With this new car, Dodge has really taken a old dog and taught it new tricks.

This could be avoided with the newest technology in safety.

With nearly 1,162,000 rear end crashes a year that leave many people injured, finally some car manufacturers start finding ways to help avoid them.  This new technology warns you if you are getting to close to an object in front of you by flashing lights, and at the same time prepares the breaks.  Many systems are able to stop the car on their own without you ever putting your foot on the breaks; it’s almost like the cars are driving themselves.  Other systems prepare the car for impact, doing such things as tightening seatbelt, raising the seat backs, and even closing windows to help avoid passenger from flying out of his or her vehicle. There are several  luxury car companies that now offer this system, such as Mercedes, Volvo,Lincoln and Ford. Although it has not been proven to be fool proof the companies are pretty certain that they will get good reviews.The estimated cost for this new technology is around $1500, and can easily pay for itself after only one rear end crash.

FSO Polonez

The FSO Polonez is a Polish motor vehicle produced from 1978 to 2002. The car name comes from the Polish dance, polonaise. Essentially the car was a rebodied ”Polski” Fiat 125p, which ” Fabryka samochodow Osobowych’’ (FSO) built under licence from Fiat, based on the Fiat 125p. The internal components (engine, chassis, and other mechanicals) were straight from the ‘’Polski’’ Fiat 125p, but clothed in an entirely new hatchback body designed by Giorgietto Giugiaro. The car was meant to be equipped with Fiat’s DOHC engines in the 1980s, but a crisis at the time made the purchase of a licence from Fiat impossible. This is also why the 125p was produced simultaneously with the Polonez for more than a decade. Moreover, mechanical modernization only took place when it could be applied to both cars. This situation finally changed after the production of the 125p ended in 1991.Now theres no cars like this on Polish roads, like also there any Polish car industries anymore. Polonez was in one of the episode of show Top Gear, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MLoRPKoB8k .

The Italian automaker today handed Antonio Manganello, head of the Italian State Police, the keys to a Gallardo LP560 Polizia, a model that makes the Dodge charger and Carbon E7 police cars look like a crown vic. Dont even think about trying to escape form this cop in Lazio, Italy unless you can do 204 mph because the police man in blue are rollin in a 560 horsepower Lamborghini Gallardo. 30 officers personally trained by Lamborghini’s test drivers will have the opportunity to be behind the wheel of a lambo. This Gallardo Polizia can do 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, making this a faster chasing down criminals or the one that make a run. This is only the third car Sant’Agata has given Italian police. Also, in other part of the world you see highway patrol riding in Porsche 911s. In my opinion a lambo is going to be very hard to outrun, and a waste of a lamborghini.

Lamborghini Polizia

BMW has recently come out with details of their Vision Efficient Dynamics Concept. The concept will be officially released at the Frankfurt auto show in a couple of weeks. The new concept is a plug-in hybrid with a 1.5-liter turbo diesel. It is rated at a hefty 163 hp with peak torque of 214 lb-ft. The engine is paired with a 6-speed DCT derived from the unit used in the M3 and Z4. BMW claims a 0-62 mph time of 4.8 seconds while scoring 62.6 mpg. The battery the BMW electric motor uses is a lithium polymer battery pack; the pack has a usable capacity of 8.6 kWh and can last 2.5hr and efficiency of the diesel engine means that the 6.6 gallon tank can propel the car another 400 miles. There has been no statement from BMW that they will produce the car any time soon.

The British race engineering firm McLaren has finally released its long-anticipated new supercar. Called the MP4-12C, it features the latest advances in automotive technology from McLaren’s Formula 1 team. The MP4-12c is an extremely light full carbon fiber car, being significantly lighter than the Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Under the hood sits a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 engine producing around 600 horsepower and 433 lb-ft of torque, offering what McLaren claims to be the highest horsepower to CO2 ratio of any internal combustion engine on the market. The bespoke mill features a flat-plane crank, dry sump and can rev up to 8,500 rpm, though 80% of the torque is said to be available from as low as 2,000 rpm. That ought to be good for a 0-60 time in the low threes and a 200+ mph top end. But the real trick system in the MP4-12C is the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, where Pre-Cog lets the driver load up the next gear by half-squeezing the paddle and then engaging with gunshot speed. The car is going to retail for about $265,000 and they are planning on building 1000 units in 2011

The most popular car in 2009 is the BMW 3 series coupe. The BMW won the most popular car in the world in 2009. BMW made fantastic cars in 2009 but the best of the best was the BMW 3 series coupe. The cost of the BMW 3 series coupe is $40,575. The price of this car isn’t that bad saying that it won the most popular car. In Europe a lot of people liked the 3 series coupe. They were saying it was a great model and that it is really comfortable inside the car and is also very safe. And 3 series coupe has racing car mode, which is a great option as you can drive really fast. This car is really safe and when you are cornering the side it helps you to get good balance of the car. The best about this car is you can drive 260 km. And you can put 100,000 songs in it. In the car they have something they call I drive, it is a TV and Mp3 player. Another great addition is that it has navigation in it. The BMW owner says that BMW is getting better every year and he’s really happy that people are enjoying it.

Yesterday I decided to go to soccer practice twenty minutes early because I needed to talk to my coach about some college things.  On the way to the soccer fields there is a round about that I have to go around in order to get on the right street.  As I was going around the circle my tire hit the curve and pulled my car off the road and made it do a complete 180 spin and I hit a tree.  My whole front bumper was torn off my car.  The air bags did not go off and everything else was alright.  I was able to drive my car to the body shop and everything is going to be alright.  I’m glad that I was safe.  If I had been going any faster another tree would have wrecked the whole right side of my vehicle.

This past year there have been some new cars that have been released on the market.  German motor company Mercedes released a new model known as the C63 AMG.  It is one of the quickest cars on the road today.  The C63 starts at $55,000 for the base model. A fully loaded one would come out to about $72,000.  The C63 has 451 horsepower and 443-lbs of torque and can go from 0-60 mph in about 4.1 seconds. However, it is not the only car like this on the road, it has a few competitors. The new BMW M3 and the new Lexus IS-F have similar features and are also well known luxury car brands. Personally, I like the C63 the best, from its looks to the way it drives.  I have also only test driven the C63 so that might be why I like it so much.  To me, the C63 is like the ultimate car to own right now.